Internet-connectable devices are ubiquitous in today's society. This is evidenced by the widespread use of personal electronic user devices, such as smartphones. In part, this is due to advancements in mobile network infrastructure, service offerings from multiple mobile network operators that give greater value to subscribers, reduced device manufacturing costs, and the fact that today's mobile devices can serve many functions beyond voice communication. For example, certain mobile devices may function as a mobile phone, a video camera, a portable media player, a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, and/or an Internet client with email and web browsing capabilities. Mobile devices may also provide proprietary and/or third-party software applications that offer various capabilities including, for example, games and social networking. Other Internet-connectable devices may provide the same or similar functions and capabilities due to similar advancements and offerings.
Internet-connectable devices may also allow users to conduct transactions such as, for example, commercial transactions. Commercial advertisers have responded to the influx of powerful and intelligent Internet-connected devices capable of conducting commercial transactions by increasingly marketing products and services via mobile advertising. Mobile advertising is a rapidly growing sector providing advertisers with the opportunity to connect with potential consumers via consumers' Internet-connectable devices, rather than, or in addition to, traditional media such as radio or television. Mobile advertising includes many channels through which consumers can be reached. These channels include, but are not limited to, web-browser clients, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), games, videos, and software applications. Each mobile advertisement can link to additional content, channels, or, in some instances, complementing media.
Internet-connectable devices are ideal for targeted advertisements due to the fact that an Internet-connectable device is often associated with only one unique user. Moreover, many Internet-connectable devices give users the ability to be highly engaged with the content available thereon, including advertisements. Therefore, Internet-connectable devices can help deliver excellent advertisement campaign effectiveness and response levels compared to other media; however, to be most effective, advertisements must be relevant to the user of the Internet-connectable device. For example, people without children are unlikely to be interested in advertisements for diapers. Thus, to provide relevant advertisements, advertisers may require some information about the user to help identify unique interests of the user.
Typically, to determine a relevant advertisement for a user of an Internet-connectable device, device-specific data can first be communicated from the Internet-connectable device to a publisher server, advertisement server, or other server in the form of, for example, metadata. Device-specific data communicated to a publisher server may, in turn, be communicated to an advertising server or other server. The advertising server or other server may then perform advertisement analysis and decision-making. In addition to the device-specific data, a publisher server may store and communicate additional data useful in performing advertisement analysis and decision-making including, for example, user profile data, which may comprise gender, location, age, demographics, interests, user and/or device history, etc.